


Witness

by December21st



Category: Castle
Genre: Castleland, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-26
Updated: 2013-05-26
Packaged: 2017-12-13 00:26:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/817791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/December21st/pseuds/December21st
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beckett meets the only witness to a murder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Witness

**Author's Note:**

> Response to the challenge "Who Ya Gonna Call?" at LiveJournal's Castleland. The challenge was to write a short fic with a ghost. Written in 2010.

Beckett regains consciousness slowly, a steady drip of water tapping her cheek. She sits up and groans as a spike of pain drives through her skull. She’s lying on the floor of an empty apartment, water dripping down on her from the mold-spotted ceiling. One of the window panes is broken and an erratic breeze causes the tattered remains of flimsy curtains to flap in the dimming twilight.

“Your friends are on their way. I called them.” A young woman sitting on an old plastic crate tells her, gesturing towards Beckett’s cell phone, lying in the middle of the floor. She’s maybe sixteen, and her clothes suggest she’s homeless.

“What happened?” Beckett’s memory is fuzzy and her head hurts, but the last thing she remembers is dropping off Castle at his apartment while on her way to question a suspect.

“The security guard from the construction site next door brought you here. I think he was going to … do things, but I scared him off.” The teen smiles tightly, pleased with her accomplishment. Kate has a flash of memory – a burly guard backhanding her into a wall, followed by pain and darkness.

“What’s your name?” Kate asks gently.

“I’m Gemma.” The girl doesn’t offer a last name, and Beckett doesn’t push.

“Thanks for looking after me, Gemma. I’m Detective Kate Beckett with the NYPD. Do you live here?”

“Sometimes.”

“A young woman was murdered at the construction site two nights ago. Did you see anything, Gemma?”

“He brought all his victims here. They could scream and scream nobody would hear them.”

“Who did, Gemma? The security guard?” If they can prove multiple victims, with a witness, the killer will rot in prison for the rest of his life.

Beckett hears voices downstairs calling her name. She recognizes them; Ryan and Esposito, even Castle, who’s supposed to be at some fancy party. They sound worried. She stands up, going to the open doorway to the apartment, and calls out. “Up here!”

Standing up was a bad idea, and Beckett closes her eyes, fighting back a new wave of pain. She’s suddenly enveloped in a strong pair of arms hugging her and Castle’s telling her “Thank god you’re safe!”

“I’m fine,” she reassures the trio. “We need a warrant for the arrest of …” Kate searches her memory, “John Winslow, the security guard at the construction site. Let’s start with assault on a police officer, and we’ll add the murder charges when we have more evidence.” Kate looks around the room, but Gemma is nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Gemma?”

“Who?” Esposito asks.

“The homeless girl that found me and called you for help?” Beckett asks, tired. She hopes Gemma hasn’t run off.

Caste holds up his cell phone. “Beckett, this is the call I got from you.” He presses play. At first there’s just a quiet sobbing. A female voice starts repeating “no, don’t,” until the words turn into screams, increasing in terror and frequency until the recording cuts off.

Beckett just stares at the phone, aghast.

Ryan looks up from a phone call he just ended. “Did you say Gemma?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Interesting coincidence. Lanie just identified our victim. Ran away from her home in Bangor, Maine, about ten months ago. Her name was Gemma Perkins.”


End file.
